Reality Torn
by mandiekro
Summary: Artemis is grieving. The great star-crossed love of her life, Wally West, has been killed by the Reach. She can't get revenge, so she turns to utter, life-destroying grief. Meanwhile, Wally himself is not dead, but he can't remember anything. Sarah is also in mourning, and has been for six months after her own star-crossed love, Jason Todd, died saving her. But he may be alive...
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello all! I hope that anyone who has read _The Not-So-Normal Story of Sarah B. Logan _is reading this, but if not, whatever. If you have not read the aforementioned story, I would suggest it, but if not Sarah was dating Jason Todd before he died and she was Falcon, one of the Bats. And her brother is Gar, and her cousin is Whisper, who was allied with Dassad an Apokolips. That is essentially what you need to know. This is kind of going to be like the season three, but including Sarah and such.

* * *

Wally

We run and run. But I'm slowing down. Flash and Impulse were faster than me to begin with, but now I'm being hit with energy bolts. I don't know why. I don't know what's happening to me. But I know that it can't be good.

"Impulse, we need to slow down to get some some of that electricity off Kid!" I hear Flash yell. I speed up as much as I can. The energy is targeting me because I'm slower. I need to speed up. I need to save Artemis, no matter the cost.

I soon realize that if this continues, if I don't stop, I'll die. But I don't care. I have to keep going. I have to save the world. I have to save Arty. "Artemis is going to kill me. And don't get me started on Mom and Dad." I grunt at Uncle Barry.

"No!" He cries. "Tell them, okay?" I tell him, than speed up a bit more. And a bit more. And a bit more, until I'm running faster than ever before. I begin to think about what will happen after I'm gone. Maybe I'll be the wake-up call the League needs, that we're not immortal. Or maybe not.

I run until I glance down and see through my own hands. Well, that's not good. I thought dying would be like, the world is there one second, gone the next. I wanted to have my body buried and stuff. This isn't supposed to be happening. I have just enough time to see Artemis's face before my world becomes a flash of light.

* * *

Artemis

Flash and Impulse stop running. The bomb is powered down. Both speedsters fall to the ground, members of the Team rushing to see Impulse, members of the League to see Flash. But Wally isn't there.

"Where's Wally?" I ask the collapsed speedsters. They share a look, then Barry turns to me. "He wanted me to tell you..." He says, trailing off. I look at him, tears starting to form in my eyes as I realize what he means. "He loved you." Everyone looks down.

I fall to my knees, then curl up in the fetal position on the ground, not caring about the freezing snow sneaking past the collar of my jacket. M'gann leans down and hugs me. I know she wants to console me, but she knows that it's of no use. The impossible has happened. The impossible occurrence that I've layed awake thinking about for nights upon nights upon nights. The thing that didn't really seem possible until this moment.

"He was a hero. He died a hero." Nightwing tells us, but he's crying as well, though he's not sobbing like me. Silent tears stream from his eyes, just like at Bluejay's funeral. I think of how Wally would've teased him, and it makes me sob even more.

I board the bio-ship feeling devastated and hollow, tears still rushing down my face in streams. "Wally." I whisper, knowing that he will never answer again. Never hear me again. Never speak to me again.

"Take me to Central. I need to tell his parents." I tell M'gann quietly. She nods. All of a sudden I start sobbing again, and find myself wrapped in my friend's comforting green arms.

"I have no idea how you feel, Artemis, but I do know that you are strong and that you can get through this, no matter how much it hurts." She tells me, but I can hear the restrained sobs threatening to break free in her voice. I know that I'm not the only one who's allowed to be sad, but I get the sudden urge to yell at Megan that if she thinks she's devastated, she doesn't know the meaning of the word.

"Just take me to Central. And don't come pick me up. I'll make arrangements." I tell M'gann in a hoarse voice. She nods, knowing who I'm going to see, and we take off, heading back to civilization, and away from the last place I will ever see Wally ever again.

* * *

Wally

I wake up on the ground, staring at a cloudless blue sky. I groan as I try to sit up, my whole body in pain. I look around. I'm sitting in a bright forest. All of the trees have beautiful green foliage, and the sky is a bright, sunny blue.

"Wh-where am I? H-how'd I get here?" I ask myself, but as I try to remember, nothing comes to mind. I can't remember where I had come from, where I was, who my parents are. I can't remember how old I am. I can't even remember my own name, though for some reason the letter w comes to mind.

In fact, I find that all I remember is speed, and the face of a beautiful blonde girl. "Who is she?" I wonder to myself. And speed? Why do I remember speed of all things? Why am I here? I'm trying so hard to remember I think my brain is going into overdrive.

I finally manage to stand. I still feel like I'm about to fall down but whatever. I glance down at myself and bite back a curse. What the hell am I wearing? It's a red and yellow suit with a lightning bolt on the chest. Why in hell would anyone ever wear something so stupid?

"Hello! Anybody here?" I call out. No answer. It seems like I'm all alone here. But no. There has to be somebody here. I can't just be alone, right? "Anybody out there?" I call again. Silence.

* * *

Artemis

Wally's parents answer the door. I look up at them, feeling tears starting to stream from my eyes. There is a bit of Wally in both of them. As I cry, they understand what I'm about to say. They hug me and all three of us cry together.

They invite me inside, and I accept. There are pictures of Wally and his parents, Wally and Barry and Iris, Wally by himself. There are even pictures from the Central City High prom, and the Gotham Academy one, both of Wally and I. When I see them, I sob even harder.

I spend a few hours with Wally's parents, crying and talking about him. But after a while, I know that I have to go see someone else. I say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. West and walk to the bus stop a few blocks away. I get on a bus to the south of Central.

I get off and walk a few blocks to an apartment building and go to the top floor. I knock on a door, the door of the only person I know of that will understand my situation, my grief and my sad, devastated pride in my hero.

Daniel Logan answers the door. "Hi, Mr. Logan. Is Sarah home?" Daniel smiles at me. "Sure Artemis. She's right in here. She's having a bad day. l tried to get her out of bed, but I think she's just having one of those days. Why do you want to see her?" He asks me.

"It's Wally." I whisper. "Oh." He says. "Well, she's in her room. You know where it is." He says. He doesn't try to tell me that it'll be okay, or that he's sorry. I'm sure he tried all of that with Sarah after Jason. Which is good. I don't want any false comfort.

* * *

AN: Yeah. So. Chapter 1.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I just realized that the acronym for this story (RT) is the same acronym the team uses for Red Tornado. I have no idea why I thought of that.

* * *

Wally

I walk for miles, or at least, what feels like miles. I don't want to run, but I don't know why. I think of my earlier recollection of speed, of running and running with nothing in my way, just me and the amazing feeling of it all. But I know, for some reason, that I can't run. Not now.

I felt like taking off my mask, but there's this feeling at the back of my mind, warning me to keep it on. I wonder why. It's not like anyone's going to see me, but who am I to defy my inner voice? "Is anybody there?" I yell for the dozenth time.

All of a sudden, I hear it. There are people talking and laughing. It isn't in English, or any other language that I recognize, but they're people and it's music to my ears.

* * *

Sarah

It's just one of those days. Where everything I see reminds me of him. There are good days, where I can go out, see my friends, sometimes I even visit the Cave, the Hall, the Watchtower, or even the Manor. And as the weeks and months march along those good days are coming more and more frequently.

But there are also bad days, when I get up and the only thing I can think of is him, where everything I see reminds me of him. Today is one of those days, when I lay in bed and feel crappy. When I feel like I was my fault, because it was. When I would give almost anything to have him back.

My dad knocks on my door. "Sarah, there's someone here to see you." "Is it Jason?" I ask, in a depressed sense of humor. "Still no, sweetheart, but somebody who needs you almost as much as he did."

I open the door and a blonde figure rushes into my arms, sobbing. "Artemis? What's wrong? What happened?" I ask, confusion clear in my voice. "It's Wally." She wails. "What did he do to you Arty?" I ask, leading the still-sobbing blonde to sit on my bed. "We were stopping the Reach's bombs. We called you to help but there was no answer."

Shit. Those calls I thought were Hazelle or Gar were actually the Watchtower. And if one of the bombs exploded... and got Wally...

"There was one bomb that was starting to go chrysalis, and the Flashes went to try and drain it using their speed trails. You know that Wally's slower, but the energy was starting to target him, use him as an output, according to Barry. Blue's scarab said that Wally was going to cease. Then, he," Artemis pauses, "He... he started to disappear. And then, he was just, gone. Flash and Impulse managed to shut the bomb down, but Wally..." Artemis is full out sobbing now.

"Shh, shh, it's..." I'm about to tell my best friend that it'll be okay, but if hers and Wally's relationship was anything like mine and Jason's (which I know for a fact that it was), than the blonde won't be okay for awhile. She'll be consumed by immeasurable guilt and grief, devastation and sadness, hollowness and anger.

She'll lay in bed, thinking of Wally, remembering their first date, their first kiss, all those little annoying comments that always seemed to be able to push her buttons. But most of all, there is pain. The pain of losing a loved one. The pain of losing someone who had become a part of her, a part of what made Artemis, Artemis. The pain of losing her soulmate.

* * *

Jason

I wake up in darkness, in a small tight space. "Hey! Let me outta here!" I yell. No answer. I try and remember the last thing that happened. Falcon. The Joker. He had a gun. I saved Sarah. And then I died.

I remember floating. I remember darkness. And then I remember wishing that I could see my family again. But it was just me and my thoughts. And the darkness. The all-consuming darkness, the darkness where I could only think of Sarah and Dick and Tim and Bruce and Alfie and even that stupid goddamn team.

And then I tried to speak. "Sarah?" I whispered. "Timmy? Dickie? Bruce? Alfie?" There was, of course, no answer. The words echoed in the darkness. But then an image seemed to surface in my mind, like a memory, except one that I had no recollection of experiencing.

There was a tombstone. Sarah was kneeling in front of it. "Hi Jason. Today's the Second Robin's funeral. Dick and Tim couldn't finish your holo-statue without breaking down, so Bruce did it, and even he barely kept from crying. The whole Team is coming to the funeral, even Tempest and Aqualad, who were in Atlantis mourning Aquagirl. I told you about Tula's death three weeks ago." She did? How long have I been gone?

Sarah is still talking. "Wally and Artemis are even coming in costume to honour the attempts you and I made to make them stay heroes." There were tears tumbling from Sarah's eyes. She wasn't bothering to wipe them away. "I'll see you tomorrow. I love you Jason." Sarah finished. She hurried out of the cemetery, her face still wet with tears. I wanted to reach out and touch her face, to kiss her, to feel her next to me. But of course, I couldn't do that.

I watched as Sarah clambered into the passenger seat of Dick's car and they sped off thought the streets to the zeta tube, which they took to the Cave. Dick, Sarah, and Tim, who all had put on sunglasses, met Artemis and Kid Flash in the main room. Artemis hugged Sarah, and the small group went down to the grotto, where there was a holo-statue of Ted Kord, Blue Beetle. A teenaged boy, Jaime Reyes, I recognized, was standing in front of the holo-statue, looking a bit upset. "Never even knew the guy." He muttered, referring to his would-be mentor. There was also a holo-stat base on the ground several feet away from Ted's.

"Hello, everybody." Dick stepped forward, his girlfriend, Hazelle Coleson, a.k.a Agent H clutching his hand, standing near the empty holo-stat base. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of, and mourn, Robin II, otherwise known as Bluejay." At his words, Tim pulled a remote out of his pocket and hit a button. The holo-statue of me flickered before coming into existence. I was in my Robin costume, but my utility belt had blue accents to represent the years I spent as Bluejay.

Dick made a speech, where he talked about some of the times when we had gotten in trouble, how much he missed me, and stuff like that. It was pretty emotional, especially the part where he mentioned my relationship with Sarah.

"Falcon was Robin's first and only girlfriend. He couldn't get a girl other than her if he tried." That got a laugh. Dick continues, "They always fought, they rarely ever agreed on anything, and they'd rather take on Joker and Harley Quinn solo before admitting just how much they loved each other, which was more than, probably any of us will ever know." I nod.

"When they first met, they could not stand each other. Then a week later, after Falcon broke her leg in combat, Robin, who was Bluejay at the time, kissed her. She was unconscious though." I remember that night like it was yesterday, and I could tell that Sarah did too. She was staring at Dick in surprise at his words.

"As time went on, their relationship got more serious. They spent more and more time together, and eventually, they became partners in the field. They did better together than alone. The pair was practically inseparable. Even though they fought a lot, they never split. I doubt the thought of seeing anyone else even flickered through either of their minds." "Never." I whispered, as though Sarah could hear me.

"They were soul mates. When Robin died, he was saving his true love, Falcon, and I know he wouldn't have wanted to go out any other way." Dick then went on about our brotherly bond, blah blah blah. But I couldn't take my eyes off of Sarah. She was silently crying, tears sliding from under her black sunglasses.

"Would anyone else like to say a few words?" Dick asks. I can hear how hard he's trying not to cry, even though most people wouldn't have noticed. Tim gave a speech, less elaborate than Dickie's but still nice. Than Sarah stepped forward. "Sarah." I whispered. As Sarah spoke, barely containing her sobs, I broke down too. When Sarah finished speaking, Dick stepped forward again. "This holo-statue is dedicated to one of the bravest heroes to ever step foot in this Cave. To Robin the Second!" Dick said. "To Robin the Second." Everyone repeated. "To Jason Todd. Bluejay. Robin the Second." I read Sarah's quivering lips.

"Sarah. I love you. I'll always love you. I'll never love anyone but you. And if you can get any sort of sense that I'm telling you this right now, you have to know that I won't be happy here. Because I miss you. Dick was right. You're my soulmate. It never once crossed my mind to even think of being with anyone else. But I don't want to see you. Because that would mean that you're dead. And I don't want that for you. I love you, Sarah Logan." I tell the un-memory. I suppose that what I'm doing is like how she was talking to my grave. Pretending that she can hear me.

"I love you Jason Todd. I'll never love anyone but you." She whispers in the image I see of her. I'm filled with both a sense of happiness and a sense of guilt at her words. Happiness, because I know she loves me, and guilt, because she won't get to have the life she deserves because, according to her words, she won't be able to have a life with someone who's not me.

I have called forth un-memories as much as I can. I have watched Sarah and Bruce and my brothers everyday. I also tried to call the spirits of the dead. I called for my mother once, and she showed up in an un-memory. She was watching me in an un-memory. "Hi mom." I whispered. "Hi Jason." She whispered back.

And then one day a man showed up. He was old, and familiar. A woman was with him. "I am Kent Nelson, former Dr. Fate. And I am here to tell you that reality itself has been torn by an alien invader. You are being called back to the world of the living. Goodbye." And now I'm here.

I think I'm in a coffin. It would make sense. After all, I'm dead. Right? I feel weak, hungry and thirsty, probably from my body not eating, drinking, or seeing sunlight for over six months. Whatever. I'm a survivor, I'm not one to just lay around in a coffin.

I feel around the space, trying to find something, anything, that could possibly be of use to me. I've heard that some people get buried with important possessions, as respect to them, and Bruce hasn't disappointed. I feel the familiar shape of my utility belt under my fingers. "Thank you Bruce." I say to the empty coffin. My voice comes out hoarse and scratchy from months of disuse.

I open the first compartment of the belt that I touch. I pull out a piece of paper along with my mini-flashlight. I flick the little light on and see that the inside of the coffin is coated in blue velvet. I'm wearing jeans, a black jacket and the Bluejay symbol T-shirt Sarah got for me.

I look at the little paper in my hand. 'I left you your utility belt in case you wake up. Please wake up and come back to me Jason. I love you forever and always, Sarah.' I tucked the note into the pocket of my jeans. "I will come back to you Sarah. I promise." I whisper.

I feel around in my utility belt until I find my emergency food and water supply. Bruce might've chastised me but damn, I think this qualifies as an emergency. I shove a few power bars into my mouth and drain a few miniature bottles of water, immediately feeling a bit better, a bit stronger. A bit more alive.

I snatch a birdarang from my utility belt and slice a long cut into the top of my coffin. Dirt trickles in. I manage to wrap my belt around my waist and start doing more damage to my coffin. More dirt spills through. As I slice through the wood and dirt above me I start catching glimpses of sunlight. Soon the top of the coffin is reduced to splinters and dirt is everywhere. I maneuver into a crouch. I claw and slice my way to the surface. I start coughing up dirt and lay on the ground near my grave for a bit, clawing earth out of my ears and nose.

I look at my tombstone, hoping it says something awesome like 'Bow Down Before Your Ultimate Ruler's Grave' or something more serious like 'Jason Todd: Died Saving His Entire World' because Sarah is my entire world. And I died saving her. It doesn't say anything like that. Instead, etched into the dark stone is

Jason Todd  
Beloved son  
1998-2015  
Made a hero, died a hero  
Once a brother, always a brother

It's really nice, and I honestly wouldn't change anything about it. I look at it a bit more before turning and running off. I've got a Joker to take revenge on.


End file.
